A separate poll found Ms Sturgeon’s personal poll ratings have dipped markedly since the height of the pandemic, with her domestic record on health and education thought to be behind the fall.

The YouGov survey for the Times said her rating – the difference between the proportion of people who think she is performing well and badly – had fallen from +50 in August last year to +12.

However, she was the only Scottish party leader to achieve a positive rating and Boris Johnson’s score was minus 62, a decline of 17 points.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said the Survation survey showed “Nicola Sturgeon’s priorities are not the priorities of the people of Scotland.”

Donald Cameron, the Scottish Tories’ Shadow Constitution Secretary, said: “Nicola Sturgeon and her party continue to focus obsessively on independence, while the issues that Scots really care about – such as the NHS, the economy, education and social care – are neglected by the SNP government.”

But Rona Mackay, an SNP MSP, said: “This poll shows a clear majority of people expressing a view want a referendum in the current Holyrood term.

 “As the UK Tory government continues to be mired in Westminster sleaze and the harsh realities of Brexit are being realised, it is no surprise the people of Scotland want to have the choice of taking a better path with independence.